Fluid Pre-Heating Assembly

ABSTRACT

A fluid pre-heating assembly includes a housing that may be positioned on a support surface. A tank is positioned within the housing so the tank may contain a fluid. A fan motor is coupled to the housing. A fan is operationally coupled to the fan motor so the fan may draw air over the tank.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE Field of the Disclosure

The disclosure relates to fluid pre-heating devices and more particularly pertains to a new fluid pre-heating device for storing water at an indoor ambient temperature prior to being introduced to a water heater.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a housing that may be positioned on a support surface. A tank is positioned within the housing so the tank may contain a fluid. A fan motor is coupled to the housing. A fan is operationally coupled to the fan motor so the fan may draw air over the tank.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a fluid pre-heating assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a top view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 4 of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2 of an embodiment of the disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 4 thereof, a new fluid pre-heating device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 4, the fluid pre-heating assembly 10 generally comprises a housing 12 that may be positioned on a support surface 14. The housing 12 may have a cylindrical shape. The housing 12 may have a height between 1.2 m and 1.5 m and diameter between 50 cm and 70 cm. A foot 16 is coupled to a bottom 18 of the housing 12. The foot 16 is one of a plurality of feet 20 evenly distributed around the bottom 18 of the housing 12. The plurality of feet 20 abuts the support surface 14 so the housing 12 is supported above the support surface 14.

A tank 22 is positioned within the housing 12 so the tank 22 may contain a fluid 24. The fluid 24 may comprise water 26. The tank 22 may have a capacity between 198 L and 227 L. The tank 22 has an outside diameter that is less than an inside diameter of the housing 12 so an air space 27 surrounds the tank 22. The tank 22 has a height that is less than the height of the housing 12 so a fan space 28 is defined above the tank 22.

An air opening 30 extends through an outside wall 32 of the housing 12 proximate the bottom 18 of the housing 12. The air opening 30 may allow air to flow into the air space 27 within the housing 12. The air opening 30 is one of a plurality of air openings 30. The plurality of air openings 30 is evenly distributed around an entire perimeter of the housing 12. Each of the plurality of air openings 30 may have a length between 10 cm and 13 cm.

An air fin 34 is coupled between an inside surface 36 of the outside wall 32 of the housing 12 and an outside surface 38 of an outer wall 40 of the tank 22 so the air fin 34 is positioned proximate the fan space 28 in the housing 12. The air fin 34 is one of a plurality of air fins 34. The plurality of air fins 34 is evenly distributed around an entire perimeter of the tank 22 so the plurality of air fins 34 may allow air to flow upwardly in the housing 12. The plurality of air fins 34 may be comprised of a rigid material.

A fan motor 42 is coupled to the housing 12 and positioned beneath an inside surface 44 of a top wall 46 of the housing 12 so the fan motor 42 is positioned within the fan space 28 in the housing 12. The top wall 46 includes a plurality of slits 45 extending through the top wall 46. The fan motor 42 may have an operational voltage between 50 Volts AC and 120 Volts AC. A drive shaft 48 is coupled to and extends downwardly from the fan motor 42. A fan 50 is coupled to a free end 52 of the drive shaft 48 so the fan motor 42 may rotate the fan 50. The fan 50 may be powered by electricity or water force if so desired. The fan 50 urges air in through the slits 45 and out through the air openings 30 through the air space 27 so the fluid 24 in the tank 22 is brought to an ambient temperature.

An inlet conduit 54 is fluidly coupled to and extends laterally away from a top 56 of the tank 22 so a free end 58 of the inlet conduit 54 extends through the outside wall 32 of the housing 12. The free end 58 of the inlet conduit 54 may be fluidly coupled to a fluid source 60 so the inlet conduit 54 may fill the tank 22 with the fluid 24. The fluid source 60 may comprise a residential water supply line of unheated or cold water.

An outlet conduit 62 is fluidly coupled to and extends laterally away from a bottom 64 of the tank 22. A free end 66 of the outlet conduit 62 extends through the outside wall 32 of the housing 12. The free end 66 of the outlet conduit 62 may be fluidly coupled to a fluid supply line 68 so the outlet conduit 62 may supply the fluid 24 from the tank 22 to the fluid supply line 68. The fluid supply line 68 may comprise residential plumbing of any conventional design.

A baffle 70 is coupled to the tank 22 proximate the top 56 of the tank 22. The inlet conduit 54 may deliver the fluid 24 into a top 72 of the baffle 70 so the baffle 70 may evenly distribute the fluid 24 downwardly into an interior of the tank 22. The baffle 70 may have a circular shape with a diameter between 30 cm and 50 cm.

In use, the free end 66 of the outlet conduit 62 may be fluidly coupled to a cold water supply line 74 in the convention of residential plumbing. The fan 50 may draw air over the tank 22 to bring the water 26 in the tank 22 to ambient temperature. The warmed water 26 in the tank 22 may increase a temperature of the cold water supply line 74. The housing 12 may be positioned near a heat source to increase the temperature of the water 26 in the tank 22.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. 

I claim:
 1. A fluid pre-heating assembly comprising: a housing configured to be positioned on a support surface; a tank positioned within said housing wherein said tank is configured to contain a fluid; a fan motor coupled to said housing; and a fan operationally coupled to said fan motor wherein said fan is configured to draw air over said tank.
 2. The assembly according to claim 1, further comprising said tank having an outside diameter being less than an inside diameter of said housing wherein an air space surrounds said tank.
 3. The assembly according to claim 1, further comprising said tank having a height being less than a height of said housing wherein a fan space is defined above said tank.
 4. The assembly according to claim 1, further comprising said fan motor being coupled to said housing and positioned beneath an inside surface of a top wall of said housing wherein said fan motor is positioned within a fan space in said housing.
 5. The assembly according to claim 2, further comprising: a drive shaft coupled to and extending downwardly from said fan motor; said fan being coupled to a free end of said drive shaft wherein said fan motor rotates said fan; and said fan urging air through said air space wherein the fluid in said tank is brought to an ambient temperature.
 6. The assembly according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of slits extending through a top wall of said housing and an air opening extending through an outside wall of said housing proximate a bottom of said housing wherein said slits and said air opening are configured to allow air to flow into and through an air space within said housing.
 7. The assembly according to claim 6, further comprising said air opening being one of a plurality of said air openings, said plurality of air openings being evenly distributed around an entire perimeter of said housing.
 8. The assembly according to claim 1, further comprising an air fin coupled between an inside surface of an outside wall of said housing and an outside surface of an outer wall of said tank wherein said air fin is positioned proximate a fan space in said housing.
 9. The assembly according to claim 8, further comprising said air fin being one of a plurality of said air fins, said plurality of air fins being evenly distributed around an entire perimeter of said tank wherein said plurality of air fins are configured to allow air to flow between said plurality of air fins.
 10. The assembly according to claim 1, further comprising an inlet conduit fluidly coupled to and extending laterally away from a top of said tank wherein a free end of said inlet conduit extends through an outside wall of said housing.
 11. The assembly according to claim 1, further comprising an outlet conduit fluidly coupled to and extending laterally away from a bottom of said tank wherein a free end of said outlet conduit extends through an outside wall of said housing.
 12. The assembly according to claim 10, further comprising said free end of said inlet conduit being fluidly coupled to a fluid source wherein said inlet conduit fills said tank with the fluid.
 13. The assembly according to claim 11, further comprising said free end of said outlet conduit being fluidly coupled to a fluid supply line wherein said outlet conduit supplies the fluid from said tank to the fluid supply line.
 14. The assembly according to claim 1, further comprising: an inlet conduit fluidly coupled to and extending laterally away from a top of said tank; and a baffle coupled to said tank proximate said top of said tank wherein said inlet conduit delivers a fluid into a top of said baffle wherein said baffle evenly distributes the fluid downwardly into an interior of said tank.
 15. A fluid pre-heating assembly comprising: a housing configured to be positioned on a support surface; a tank positioned within said housing wherein said tank is configured to contain a fluid, said tank having an outside diameter being less than an inside diameter of said housing wherein an air space surrounds said tank, said tank having a height being less than a height of said housing wherein a fan space is defined above said tank; a plurality of slits extending through a top wall of said housing; an air opening extending through an outside wall of said housing proximate a bottom of said housing wherein said slits and said air opening are configured to allow air to flow into and through an air space within said housing, said air opening being one of a plurality of said air openings, said plurality of air openings being evenly distributed around an entire perimeter of said housing; an air fin coupled between an inside surface of said outside wall of said housing and an outside surface of an outer wall of said tank wherein said air fin is positioned proximate said fan space in said housing, said air fin being one of a plurality of said air fins, said plurality of air fins being evenly distributed around an entire perimeter of said tank wherein said plurality of air fins are configured to allow air to flow between said plurality of air fins; a fan motor coupled to said housing and being positioned beneath an inside surface of said top wall of said housing wherein said fan motor is positioned within said fan space in said housing; a drive shaft coupled to and extending downwardly from said fan motor; a fan coupled to a free end of said drive shaft wherein said fan motor rotates said fan wherein said fan urges air in through said slits, through said air space, and out through said air openings wherein the fluid in said tank is brought to an ambient temperature; an inlet conduit fluidly coupled to and extending laterally away from a top of said tank wherein a free end of said inlet conduit extends through said outside wall of said housing, said free end of said inlet conduit being fluidly coupled to a fluid source wherein said inlet conduit fills said tank with the fluid; an outlet conduit fluidly coupled to and extending laterally away from a bottom of said tank wherein a free end of said outlet conduit extends through an outer wall of said housing, said free end of said outlet conduit being fluidly coupled to a fluid supply line wherein said outlet conduit supplies the fluid from said tank to the fluid supply line; and a baffle coupled to said tank proximate said top of said tank wherein said inlet conduit delivers a fluid into a top of said baffle wherein said baffle evenly distributes the fluid downwardly into an interior of said tank. 